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I suppose I do hate the concept of being told that I must believe in a higher power or I will be eternally punished. I also hate the way religous zealots try to make themselves appear to be victims when others don't share their beliefs.

I don't hate Yahweh any more than I hate Lord Voldemort. However, I would be pretty disturbed if a bunch of people thought Lord Voldemort was real and that our purpose in life was to obey him without question. And that is the part of believing in nasty gods is what I have a problem with; that people consider malevolent beings to be role models. Doesn't mean I hate the beings in question [though I would if they existed], it just means that I don't think it's a terribly good idea to hold evil entities, real or imaginary, as moral authorities.

I hate bullshit disguised as myth, mysticism, superstition or religion. I especially hate bullshit when someone attempts to drown it in Chanel No. 5 and put it across as all sweetness and light, while under the perfume, it's still bullshit. Most of all, I hate bullshit when it's promoted as indisputable fact, particularly when even the most cursory investigation has no problem revealing that what you're dealing with here is bullshit. That amounts to lying to people, else why would a synonym for lying or telling unlikely stories be "bullshitting?"

Note here that I haven't said anything about hating some deity at all. What I hate is bullshit, and in this world there may be no finer and more thoroughly developed strain of bullshit than the strain known as religion.

We do NOT hate God, we simply ignore him (small "h"). I passed by a national muffler shop franchise today and saw a huge banner strung out across the front of the joint: "GOD IS GOOD." I thought, yeah, but you are demeaning your deity by pimping him for a business. Every time I go into the green grocer (named Fruit King, but sporting signs beneath saying "Producing for God" -- get it? Isn't that special!) I get the same rote (and therefore meaningless) spiel from the lady at the counter: "Thank you and God bless." What does THAT mean? Is God going to bless me for buying fruit and vegetables from this one dealer? See the TV ad for ChristianMingles, a romance match website that promises selection of a partner according to God's insight into the matter? What a lie! Computers select the mate, not a deity. And the computer is a gift of scientists, not gods. These people are doing themselves in by their own absurdities. It's worse than Al Gore saying he invented the internet. Eventually, the populace will catch on and realize they've been had. Religion is the biggest con going. A complete fraud. The Priesthood, by which I mean priests, pastors, ministers, reverEnds, &c. should all be tried in criminal courts for confidence games. Well, now that I think of it, I guess I should come clean: I really DO hate God. Only, even this is an impossibility: How can you hate anything or anyone that you are 100% certain does not exist?

We can find the concept of "God" abhorrent, as presented in scriptures, and/or theologies, without believing such a thing exists. It is made more abhorrent as a concept, because so many people are taken in by the stupidity and illogicality of the concept of "God" - even intelligent people.